Government data critical for businesses

Delegates discuss open data and e-governance readiness at a roundtable held by the World Bank and VCCI in HCM City on January 23 ​(Source: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) - Though Vietnam has made great strides in streamlining
administrative procedures and developing e-governance, more needs to be done to
enable businesses and the public to access information from the Government, a
roundtable heard in Ho Chi Minh City on January 23.

Tran Ngoc Liem, deputy director of the Vietnam
Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s HCM City Branch, said businesses need many
kinds of information such as domestic and global markets and the output of
certain sectors, but they find it hard to get it.

This is valuable information that helps
businesses analyse their investment and trading opportunities, Liem said.

He said the World Bank had an
open data for business tool and hoped its working group would suggest
recommendations and support Vietnam’s efforts to successfully establish a
digital government and open data.

Open data is freely available
online for anyone to use and reproduce. While social media, companies and
non-government organisations (NGOs) can all be sources of open data, the most
widely used data comes from governments and government-supported institutions.

Using open data would offer
benefits like more efficient public administration, economic growth in the
private sector and social welfare.

Alla Morrison, innovation data
programme coordinator at the World Bank, said businesses can use open data “as
a source of information for research and decision making, and as new material
to create new data-driven products, services and application platforms”.

Many countries have developed
open data and reaped its benefits, she said.

The most widely quoted is a
study by McKinsey Global Institute, which estimated that open data (from
government and non-government sources) could create 3-5 trillion USD annually
in economic value worldwide in the seven sectors of education, transportation,
consumer products, electricity, oil and gas, healthcare and consumer services.

Open data can give potential
investors essential information they need about a country’s governance,
infrastructure and resources.

Investors may be interested in
data about a country’s census statistics, workforce skills, tariffs, land or
the national infrastructure.

It can help launch new
businesses, make existing businesses more efficient and profitable, increase
employment and attract foreign investment, according to the World Bank.

The bank’s international
experts are working with local partners to collect information about the
reality and Vietnam’s readiness level with respect to open data and digital
government.

At the Roundtable on Open Data
and Digital Government Readiness Assessment, delegates, including businesses
leaders, representatives of business groups and others, were divided into
groups to discuss how their organisations use data, the current or potential
barriers to data access and use and other issues.

In spring this year, the World
Bank will offer Vietnam a roadmap and recommendations on developing open
data.-VNA